Why Walking is Good For Your Health

Rumi, the 13th century mystic poet, was fond of saying, “Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it.”

I get it. So many times I whiz back and forth in my car, covering the same areas time and time again. It’s not until I get out there on my feet and slow down with a walk that I’m able to notice and take in the beautiful and minute details of my surroundings.

I don’t know about you, but lately, walking is on my mind a lot more than it’s ever been. Why? Well, for one thing, ever since I purchased a FitBit (in case you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know what that is, it’s a device worn around your wrist that measures your steps), I’m a lot more mindful of getting my steps to 10,000 a day (inspired by the Surgeon General’s recommendation to accumulate 30 minutes of activity most days of the week). Suddenly, I don’t mind getting up off the couch to fetch something in another room…or getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom…or parking my car in a faraway spot in a parking lot. It all yields up to more STEPS!

And for another, all this dire news about how dangerous sitting is to your health (when the majority of my day is spent sitting in front of my computer, writing) scares me. “It’s the new smoking!” headlines scream.

Scary. Dr. James Levine, who is the Director of the Mayo Clinic/Arizona State University Solutions Initiative as well as the inventor of the treadmill desk (would love one of those!), has even written a book on it (Get Up!). I haven’t read it yet, but plan to.

Another health pioneer who is all for walking is wellness guru Dr. Andrew Weil, who says that putting in 45 brisk minutes a day is “quite simply the best practice I can imagine for a lifetime of health.”

Among walking’s benefits he lists:

Longer life: A study of some 8,000 men published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that over 12 years, walking two miles a day dropped the risk of death by nearly 50 percent. Walking seems to be particularly protective against cancer. The walkers cut their risk of death from cancer during the study period by about 65 percent.

Lower weight: Several studies have shown that walking from 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day – roughly four to five miles – is highly effective as a means of weight loss.

A better brain: The National Council on Aging found that walking 45 minutes daily at a rather brisk 16-minute mile pace significantly boosted cognitive performance in people over age 60. Another study found that walking 40 minutes three times weekly slowed the normal, age-related shrinkage of the hippocampus. This part of the brain consolidates short-term memory and is one of the first regions to be damaged in those who have Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Weil suggests that even though walking is a gentle exercise, you need to put some effort into it to get the real benefit. “You should be able to cover about three miles in 45 minutes,” he says. “You should breathe more quickly, and notice a slightly elevated heart rate but still be able to carry on a conversation.”

How about making it a team effort? Vionic, the footwear company, is working along with Dr. Weil and celebrity trainer Juliet Kaska and sponsoring a super-easy way to get your walking in with a campaign that officially kicks off on February 1st. You can sign up to improve your health and wellbeing by pledging to walk 30 minutes for 30 days by clicking here. It’s the next best thing to a personal trainer, in my opinion, or having a little voice inside your head gently urging you onward every single day.

You get daily emails with motivation, wellness tips and recipes. And you can also win prizes, ranging from shoes to the grand prize of a trip to Napa Valley, California (oh, how I’d love to be there now – or any time, really).

And if you’re not ready to start on Feb. 1, you can sign up any time between then and April with Spark People (but you need to be a member). You’ll still receive the same online motivation and support for the full 30 days.

Comments

Thanks for this reminder. With the colder weather, it has been so easy to stay inside. Last week I took a course that meant I had to walk to the subway and back every day. I actually felt better by the end of the week, and the pain in my hip was gone. Incredible. Who would have thought walking would also help hip pain!Alexandra recently posted…Frontpage

I walk often for exercise. I find that there is a very meditative quality to it for me. I think better and work better when I walk regularly. In the winter, I walk at the mall. I do find that I need to do other types of exercise. For me, just walking alone causes things to hurt. So I walk 2-4 a week and do Pilates, yoga, swimming and kayaking other days.Brette recently posted…Candy Conversation Heart Wreath

thank you for these reminders of the benefits of walking. I’ve always been a frequent walker — build it into my days to do things such as get to the grocers (about a 3 mile walk in my case), go to the library, and such. any extra benefit to walking hilly terrain? loads of that where I live when I am in US, and when I am in Europe, tooKerry DExter recently posted…Best Music 2014

I own a Samsung (android) phone. One can download an ap called Walking Mate which can track your steps. Of course you need to have the phone on you (I wear mine on my belt) so the steps can be ‘felt’ by the device. Saves the cost of buying the FitBit as it does mostly the same thing. You’ll discover that 10,000 steps is A LOT of steps. I am on my feet all day, as part of my job as a facility manager, and most days I don’t get above 7000, without doing a ‘walk’ as part of an exercise routine. I find the activity also is a real hammer against the “Winter Blues”. Off your butts people!!

There’s nothing more fulfilling than a good, old-fashioned walk – one of the most fundamental things we know how to do. I think many women believe that you have to run in order to get the health benefits, but I have found that walking not only offers the benefits you mentioned, but it also allows you to slow down and “see” things you may have missed if you were running!Kim Acedo recently posted…How to Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

I typically do 3 miles in an hour, but I’m also at altitude (about 8,500 feet above sea level) with some decent hills both out and back. I cannot WAIT until my new puppy is big enough (and good enough on the leash) to do 3 miles daily … without it taking forever for her to stop and sniff, etc.Roxanne recently posted…When a Puppy’s UTI Won’t Go Away

Living in NYC, I try to walk just about everywhere. . And, though the ice and snow has made it difficult for most people, I have this great pair of cleats that I can easily slip on and off most flat shoes I wear. But, I must say that I find high intensity interval training or HIIT works better for me in terms of improving fitness.

Walking is my favorite exercise, and I try to get out every day. In fact, I’m going right now! Thanks for reminding us of the health benefits.Jane Boursaw recently posted…Top 10 Romantic Comedies of the 1990s

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